Sewing-machine



(No Mod 1.) o. W. WESTON am. LEGmem- She 2- SEWING MACHINE. y No. 576,708. Patented Peb. 9, 18971.

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SEWING-MACHINE. Y

Patented Pebl 9, 1897.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES WESTON, OF N ENV YORK, N. Y., AND ALBERT LEGG, OF ALLEN- DALE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS TO THE SELF-THREADING SEWING-MA- CHINE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK.

SEWING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,708, dated February 9, 1897. Application iiled February 24, 1896, Serial No. 580,316. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, t may concern:

Beit known that we, CHARLES W. WESTON, residing at the city of New York, in the county and State of New York,`and ALBERT LEGG,

residing at Allendale, Bergen county, in the State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewing-Machines and in the Art of Making Stitches Therewith, of which the following is a speciio cation.

Our invention relates to sewing-machines using an open-eye needle, such, for instance, as that described in Letters Patent No. 474,841, granted to us May 17, 1892.

The object of ourinvention is to supply needle-thread to the complemental stitch-forming mechanism wit-h greater freedom than has been heretofore accomplished and to provide a new and useful means of threading such zo open-eye needle.

To this end ourinvention consists of a new device for forming stitches, as hereinafter described and claimed.

We attain these objects by the device shown z 5 in the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters and gurcs of reference indicate similar parts throughout the various views.

Figure 1 is a front View of a portion of a sewing-machine, showing threading device 3o attached thereto. Fig. 2 is a view, partly sectional, on line 2 2 of Fig. 3, looking in direction of arrow. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view.

3,5 method of forming stitches; and Figs. 9 to 12, inclusive, show an attempt to employ a closed-eye needle in such method.

WVe proceed to describe the manner of forming stitches with our new mechanism.

l, Figs. 5 to 8, inclusive, is the upper or spool thread, and 3 the lower or shuttle thread. Fig. 5 shows shuttle X about to enter loop 2, formed of the upper thread 1, as needle N rises and on the spool side thereof. Needle N is an open-eye needle, such, for instance, as

that described in Letters Patent No. 474,841, granted to us May 17, 1892. It will be understood that the open eye or recess thereof should be formed so as to retain the thread 5o therein long enough to form the loop 2, and

Figs. 5 to 8, inclusive, show our newY that the long groove thereof should be formed on they side ouwhich the thread is fed to the shuttle or other complemental mechanism. Fig. 6 shows shuttle X advancing through said loop 2 and pulling its supply of thread 1 55 directly from the source of supply and not through the needle. Figs.- 7 shows shuttle X still farther advanced and about to pass out of the loop and allow the same to be taken up and the stitch 4 formed. Fig. 8 shows the 6o stitch 4 drawn tight and thread 1 released by needle N and ready to be again seized thereby preparatory to the making of the next stitch.

Referring now to Figs. 9 to 12, inclusive, it will be seen that if the shuttle X is adapted to seize loop 5, formed of Lipper thread 6, as closed-eye needle N' rises, and on the spool side thereof, instead of loop 7, as is ordinary, the stitch 8, Fig. 12, will be formed between the needle and spool and cut off any further 7o supply of spool-thread to the needle. In Fig.

12 the thread 6 is shown to have broken upon the continued rise of the needle, which must happen if the end 9 of said thread is not allowed to play out. The advantage of this 7 5 mannerof lsewing is that there is less wear upon the thread, as it is supplied directly to the complemental mechanism and not through the eye or recess of the needle.

We now proceed to describe our new de- 8o vice for threading the open-eye needle upon each downward stroke thereof, referring to Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive.

A is the presser-bar, B the needle-bar, and E the cloth-plate, of one of the ordinary styles 8 5 of sewing-machines.

C is the presser-foot, which is adapted to form the frame of our device.

The needle-bar B carries an open-eye needle N, as above described. The open eye 9o or front of said needle is shown facing the presser-bar, but we do not limit ourselves to this construction, it being readily understood that should the recess or open eye face in the opposite direction, for instance, then the threading device hereinafter described should be arranged to operate also in reverse direction.

Attached rigidly to or forming part of presser foot C is the standard or post D. roo

Said post D bears arm R, on which at d lever i F is fulcrumed. Lever F is provided at its other end with fork f, adapted to engage with l the needle-screw b, so as to swing said lever i upon its fulcrum as said needle-bar reciprocates. Said lever F is also provided with pin d between its fulerum d and fork f. Fulcruined on said post at g is a cam-lever G, the cam h of which is operatively connected with lever F by means of pin a. The movement of cam-lever G depends, of course, upon the shape given to cam 7L. The lower end of said lever G is operatively connected with the arms 71; and Z, so as to reciprocate the same r as said lever is swung.

The arms k and Z bear, respectively, guide 7:' and linger Z, and any suitable means may f be employed whereby upon the reciprocation of said arms the guide and Iinger will operate so as to distend the thread and carry it into the open eye of the needle upon each l downward stroke thereof. The means for this purpose which we illustrate is similar to that described in Letters Patent No. 546,768, granted to A. Legg and F. ll. Tracy September 24:, 1895. Said arms 7i: and Z are formed so that when their ends 7c and Z are v together in front of the needle they may pass under the base of the presser-'foot and their other ends meet and be pivotally united by a bolt t, as shown in Fig. i. Said bolt tpasses through a slot M in said presser-foot, which I serves to guide the reciprocation of the rear ends of said arms in a straight line. Two; links 'fr and ur are pivoted, respectively, on arms and Z at q and q and at their other ends pivoted at a common fixed center S. l The connection of lever G with arms 7c and Z is made by the end of said lever entering slot o. lt will be readily understood that i i l l l l as said lever G is swung, as the needle-bar reciprocates, it will carry with it said arms and cause said guide and finger to move so as to thread the needle upon each downward stroke thereof, and it will also be understood that when said threading device is used in our new method of forming stitches above l described the guide 7a' and finger Z are transposed from their positions shown in said Letters Patent N o. 546,768, the guide 7c being upon the same side of the needle as the complemental mechanism. The new arrangement of levers G and F above described has many advantages over devices previously known for producing at the presser-foot a horizontal reciprocating movement from the vertical reciprocation of the needle-bar.

What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The improvement in stitch forming mechanisms which consists of a needle having an open eye or recess for engaging and carrying a bight of thread through the material to be sewed, means for operating said needle, means for feeding thread to the same upon each downward stroke thereof, and mechanism complemental thereto for com pleting the stitch cooperating with the loop formed on the thread-supply side of the needie, substantially as described.

2. In a sewing-machine, the combination of a needle having a recess or open eye for engaging the thread, means lor operating said needle, means for feeding thread to the saine, which consists of a guide and 'finger movable from in front of the path of the necdie, the guide to the side thereof on which the eomplemental stitch-forming mechanism enters the loop of thread, and the iinger to the other side, whereby the thread is distended and carried into the open eye of the needle as it descends, and means for operating said guide and finger, with complemental stitch-forming mechanism, substantially as described.

In witness whereof we have hereunto affixed our signatures, in presence of two witnesses, this 20th day of February, 1806.

(JI-IAS. XV. XVESTON. ALBERT LEGG.

Witnesses V li. V. N. PHILIP, J. B. MAXWELL. 

